A. Field of the Invention.
The invention relates to the field of devices used in cooling or maintaining the low temperature of food products. The invention is particularly useful in that it is adjustable, permitting the user to fit the device around a variety of container shapes, and in that it is foldable, so that it requires very little storage space when it is empty. In the preferred embodiment, the invention is intended to be used to carry and keep cool canned or bottled beverages. The invention is formed with a number of panels, each of which may be composed of cooling chambers containing a freezable gel and which can be fixed adjacent to a container by means of adjustable straps. When the invention is not in use, or is in the process of being cooled or frozen itself, it can be folded into a small volume, thereby taking up less space for carrying or storage.
B. Description of Related Art.
In the related art, there are various types of coolers or containers for keeping items cool. Existing coolers do not have the combination of features which constitute this invention. Existing coolers are either fixed into a solid inflexible form, not suited to folding; are designed to fit around a particular shaped container and thus not reconfigurable; or they are not a complete device for use as a stand alone cooler. For examples of such related art devices, the reader is directed to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,324,111, 4,399,668, 4,413,481, 4,831,842 and 4,986,089, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The advantages of this new invention over existing devices are that the invention is designed to be reconfigurable such that it can fit snugly around a wide range of different containers; it is foldable such that when it is not in use it requires significantly less space by volume than when it is in use, thus being convenient to store; and it is a self-contained complete unit that includes all of the structural components necessary to hold, support, and carry the container to be cooled.